Will Third Front further humiliate Congress in Lok Sabha?

All the dreams of the Third Front - a hotchpotch of various regional parties - ruling at the centre may have been washed away by the Modi wave, but that doesn't mean that they can't still wield some influence inside Parliament.With a weakened Congress party which managed just 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, a group of erstwhile Third Front members are reportedly contemplating coming together to form a 'federal front' that will function as the main opposition party in the house.According to a report in the Times of India, "AIADMK, Trinamool Congress and BJD are in discussions to forge an alliance in Parliament. Besides the three, smaller parties like Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), YSR Congress, INLD and Nagaland People's Front could be part of the front that hopes to make itself heard in Parliament.Jayalalithaa's AIADMK won 37 seats in the recently concluded polls, while Mamata Banerjee's TMC won 34.Although there has been no formal announcement in this regard, the two leaders did reach out to one another in the run up to voting in the Lok Sabha elections.Jayalalithaa called Mamata to 'wish her luck' before the polls. Mamata once went on record as saying that she would support Jayalalithaa as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate.While it is unclear if they have spoken to each other about these latest developments, the TOI report says thatefforts to formalize floor coordination could gather pace next week.If the Congress is indeed ousted as even the main voice of the opposition, this would mark an entirely new low in the history of the party. Already grappling with its worst poll performance in the history of the party, being reduced to nothing but a fringe voice in the Parliament would be nothing short of a nightmarish scenario.The Congress is reportedly keen to be recognised as the main opposition party in Parliament, and have said as much. Former Parliamentary Affairs minister Kamal Nath said that the party would take the lead in behaving like a responsible opposition. However given the low number of seats that it holds, it is certainly in a vulnerable position.The Times of India report also noted that Congress President Sonia Gandhi"is keen for Congress to be formally recognized as the main opposition to the ruling NDA something that sets it apart from a collection of regional parties."However given that neither Sonia nor her son Rahul were willing to take on the position of leader of the opposition will not really help the case of the Congress.As Firstpost editor Sandip Roy noted:As the colourful saying goes you must do your business or get off the pot. Now we have a situation where the Gandhis in opposition replicate the Gandhis in power a parallel seat of power that can exercise authority without real accountability. The Congress, as it has amply proven, is not the BJP where Sushma Swaraj could lead in the Lok Sabha while a Rajnath Singh led the party outside. The Congress revolves around the Gandhis and the Gandhis have chosen to neither get out of the way nor lead the party in one of its bleakest moments.

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